Williams Tries His Luck in Tour de Taiwan Breakaway

27 March 2017

Race: Tour de Taiwan, Stage 2

Start/Finish: Taipei/Taipei, Taiwan

Distance: 114.7 kilometers

Taipei, Taiwan — Monday’s Stage 2 of the Tour de Taiwan started and ended in Taipei with a parcours that began along the coast, before turning towards the hills for two categorized climbs, and then heading back along the coast for the finish.

The peloton was active from the start of the 114.7-kilometer stage with numerous attacks. Team Novo Nordisk’s Chris Williams raced in a nine-man break that never earned more than a one-minute gap and was reeled in before the first categorized climb. Over the climbs, the race splintered and never came back together. Brian Kamstra found himself in the first chase group and worked hard in an attempt to reconnect with the front riders before the finish in Taipei. In the end, James Gullen (Team JLT Condor) took the win two seconds ahead of teammate Edmund Bradbury (Team JLT Condor).

Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director Pavel Cherkasov:

“Our tactic today was to try to hold off any breakaway attempts with Chris, Quentin, and Stephen covering all moves. Once we reached the hills, we wanted everyone to work together, so Rik [van IJzendoorn] and Brian were in the best position before the climb. Brian rode steadily in the second group over the summit and then put in a lot of effort for his group’s chase. They came close to reaching the front group. With 5 km to go, it was down to 30 seconds. Unfortunately, they never came back together.”

The world’s first all-diabetes pro cycling team continues racing at the Tour de Taiwan on Tuesday with Stage 3. The 118.9-km race features more climbing and begins and ends in Taoyuan.

Results: